Kelly did not elaborate on theories of
consciousness and in fact was very dismissive of contemporary European
notions
of consciousness at the time (Kelly, 1966, 1969). Yet, three principles
seem to
underly PCP constructions of consciousness as derived from PCP.
Firstly, to be
aware of one aspect of the world, I must necessarily be unaware of
other
aspects, and that this selectivity is not a deficit but an inherent
logical
necessary, for example, in PCP we unquestionably accept the person's
idiosyncratic focus on their problem. Second, that any awareness arises
against
a background of unawareness, which as it were lights up the actual act
of
awareness. So, for example, implicit
poles form backgrounds for the emergence
of explicit poles in repertory grid analysis.
Thirdly, consciousness exists by
degrees and at anyone point we may slide in and out of consciousness
depending
on accessibility and utility of addressing the relevant psychological
issues.
PCP notions would subscribe more to a continuum rather than a
categorical
notion of consciousness, and would conflict with more recent cognitive
models
which view consciousness categorically and largely cognitive,
highlighting
distinct cognitive domains that may produce consciousness. For example,
Baars
(1988) adopts a theatre metaphor of consciousness seeing conscious
attention as
a work space lit up by the search light of consciousness. Elements
outside the
workspace are "unconscious" and so unreportable. Interestingly,
however,in his contrastive analyses
approach to comparing two events similar except for the consciousness
factor,
Baars (1997) comes close to elaborating on a rep grid approach to
discovering
the elements of consciousness through pyramiding or working back
to common
elements underlying opposite construct poles (conscious versus
unconscious).

This PCP continuum model is more in line
with phenomenological
thinking that intentional consciousness precedes
cognition. Particularly the notion of intentional consciousness that
there is no
"pure" consciousness and that our level of consciousness is a
function of our "doings" and "constructions". Hence degree
of consciousness is contextualized inside personal themes which define
the
horizon of consciousness. PCP also shares common ground with thinkers
who
construe consciousness in terms of self-awareness and who view all
consciousness as consciousness of the self but the self-construing in relation
to the world (e.g.Velman, 1990; Natsoulas, 1992). Sartre (1943), for
example,
holds that my self-consciousness is defined through my relationship
with the
world and my position in it.

As noted, PCP comes to terms with
awareness
by viewing it as a continuum that the person may drift in and out of,
instead
of, asking whether it is an ever-present commodity. Different aspects
of the
continuum perform distinct functions at different moments, and the
question of
whether it is preferable to be conscious depends on the context and the
task.
This fits very well with the Kellyan idea that core constructs determine level
of awareness, which can range from subliminal to full
consciousness. In this
dimensional view of consciousness, being unaware of an activity may
serve a
function that could be impeded by a state of awareness.

PCP and constructivism point out
that the
categories of consciousness of which we are familiar (waking, dreaming,
fantasy) are really very fuzzy (Mahoney, 2003) and such transitions
over
boundaries of consciousness may take a creative form and permit a
creative
overlay of past and present experiences. Fantasy and day dreaming are
also
central themes in constructivism and show us the realms of hypothetical
being.
They may help give us a perspective on what we are living "as if"
real. The organizing processes in dream consciousness are much looser
and less
constrained by space time dimensions and permit more experimentation
than
waking fantasies. Although Kelly accords importance to artistic and
other
non-verbal expressions in construing, there is no doubt that awareness
and
verbalisation are essential to the emergence of self-awareness and
hence the
possibility of exploration and change.

Collaborating in PCP with the person to
produce a phenomenological description of his or her consciousness can
be used
as revelatory therapy as well as an exploratory technique. As
revelatory
therapy it can take the form of awareness exercises. The client
envisages the
problem differently simply by stripping away attributions and
generalizations
that have grown up around it. The ability to be aware of awareness or
have
conscious commentary on conscious thoughts, termed meta-cognition, is
not some
elusive second order consciousness in PCP, but part of a super-ordinate
construction of consciousness. In sampling phenomenological experience
this
secondary appraisal of the problem would be monitored along with the
actual
problem. In other words the evaluative context of conscious experience
would be
included in the monitoring.